Horror AU - YulverseTDKBenda (Part 1)
by TwistyTwine
Summary: A full story filled with other shorter stories in every chapter. We go through a rollercoaster of frights and horror, gore and heartbreak, aided by the many characters we will learn to love and despise. We will cringe and scream and groan and dream. But most of all, we will suffer together. Rudy, Timore, & Boogey belong to me. Susan belongs to Punfan. The rest belong to Locaven.


_**Chapter 4**_

_**Prison of Possession**_

_Waking up with heavy eyelids, face-down on his laboratory floor, feeling absolutely exhausted despite just having opened his eyes?_ That was nearly like a daily routine for Dr. Dremash.

Of course, he didn't fall asleep every day; at least once or twice a week. One time, he remembered, he did manage to stay completely awake for a full week, and once he presented his project to Prince Javious, he passed out right in the throne room and woke up seventeen hours later tucked in bed. He did his best not to be secretly embarrassed about it later on when he met Javious and the people who were in the throne room once again, but all that the crowned prince told him, "Aemilius, I appreciate your effort, but you really need more rest. You deserve it."

Boldly, he had replied, "I know I do. But sleep in itself is a waste of time for me. A man like me can slumber for as long as he wants, but when he wakes up, he won't remember much of what he had before. He'll lose motivation and energy, and then he'll discontinue his work."

Aemilius let out an annoyed groan as he weakly pushed himself off the floor, rubbing his face and eyes. He felt like a mosquito with a hangover. Not that he _knew_ what a hangover was like, or how it felt like to be a _mosquito_, but it was a good simile, was it not? Speaking of mosquitoes, he made a mental note to stay inside, for it was getting closer to summer and those pesky insects would surely pop out every now and then. They lured themselves towards people with dark clothing, and Aemilius was surely one of those people. He wore his lab coat nearly everywhere he went despite having an actual separate, casual coat that he barely ever wore. He felt the need to always have the public know that he was the royal alchemist, and it was he who wore the position's very uniform. One thought always led to another for him. That was how his witty, analytical mind worked, anyway.

Aemilius tiredly began to pick up the tools scattered around his table, looking up at his homunculus, still in progress. He put the tools in a neat arrangement against the wall, ordering from smallest to largest and making sure they were all straight. He cleaned off the oil on his desk with the sleeve of his coat, nose scrunching up at the smell, though he was used to it. He looked up at his homunculus. Its beak stuck out and almost poked him in the head, but he merely took a step back and walked around it.

He took off his lab coat when he went to the bathroom, revealing a normal t-shirt and pants underneath. He brushed his teeth, put the toothbrush back to face the same direction it was before, and looked at himself in the mirror. Once again he met that cynically stoic and tired face, one with shadows underneath his eyes that now seemed to look like bruises. He'd correct anyone on it if people thought that's what they actually. He took a brush and combed back his blonde hair, making sure that not a single strand stuck out from his head.

He went back and entered his bedroom, which was completely organized without a single speck of dust. He almost didn't recognize the interior of the room from not sleeping in it for so long. He opened the closet, which was filled with other lab coats (and that one other coat, which was hung at the very end of the line so it wouldn't disturb the pattern). He mused for a moment. Then he took out one of the lab coats, put it on, and shut the closet door.

He checked again to make sure that the bathroom lights were off and that the tools on his desk were still in their neat formation. Aemilius noticed that he always grew more worried about the way things felt and affected him when he was underneath stress. It made sense, though it didn't happen very often. Perhaps the only reason this was happening because some _mercenary_ (starting with the initials: _**SUSAN BENDA!**_) wouldn't leave him alone.

Yes, he was the one who gave her a challenge, and _yes_, somehow she won it, but Aemilius wouldn't put his head down. Susan was the one who was getting on his nerves all the time. It was _her_ fault for suddenly making him so snappy. At least she kept that… _thing_ away from him. It made him feel sick just thinking about it.

Aemilius took careful steps over the lines in the floor and opened the door to exit his lab. He turned off the lights. Then switched them on again, looking back to make sure that everything looked organized. He shut them off again. Then switched them on again, making sure once more. Someone could come in and criticize his laboratory and make him seem bad, disorganized, and like a man with a terrible reputation. He sighed. Then he shut them off, stopped himself from switching them back on, and closed the door, walking down the steps of the staircase.

The floors of Oran castle were clean, and not too clean, A shame that they would be piled on by many shoes from the feet of employees. Aemilius shook himself. The floors would be cleaned again. He wouldn't have to worry. He shook himself once more. Focus. There's no need to think about the floors. You won't be getting any disease or infection. Would he? Jared got a disease. Then Victoria got this strange mutation with her magic. People were eaten alive by this unknown creature. Was that "creature" a sickness?

Damnit, Susan. Why did she have to stress him out like this?

In the cafeteria, he got a simple breakfast, just a small pile of scrambled eggs and a half a waffle. He eyed the place, watching to make sure that no one was staring at him. They had no reason to, anyway. Susan hadn't gone out of her lab in many days, and though he was curious and wondered why, he didn't care enough about her to worry about her. It was none of his business.

Since the tray he had was styrofoam, Aemilius figured he could throw it away in the trash can in his lab. That meant he could eat it in his lab, as well. He proceeded to walk out of the cafeteria, walking on the very left of the hallway so that he could avoid anybody who would try to engage in conversation with him.

* * *

It was nice and quiet in his laboratory. It allowed him to think clearly. Even a single sound outside his lab threw him off, or even hearing his own breathing. He finished his breakfast and threw the tray in the garbage can before beginning to work on his homunculus, building gradually on the half-finished arm.

Aemilius worked for hours straight, focus almost never breaking. When he had his mind on something, he could go for very long periods of time without wavering in motivation or work. That was how determined and intent he could be, and whenever something did distract him, he felt immensely frustrated.

He skipped over lunch as well. Hours and hours he continued to work, only taking very small breaks when his hands or arms felt too sore. Then he continued to work again. Building a homunculus, especially with the complicated materials and tools he had, was extremely difficult. The anatomical structure was just as important as the strength and durability of the metallic cords and wires that made up the homunculus, and Aemilius didn't do well with mistakes.

Just a few weeks ago, Javious had delivered a message to Aemilius. It was more important than he realized, because the words that the prince uttered were, "Aemilius, I am sorry that I must tell you this, but you deserve to know it; your parents… they have passed."

Aemilius had stared at the prince, taking many moments to process what he just said. Then, averting his eyes to the ground, he very slowly nodded, muttered a, "Thank you for telling me this, your highness. Could you give me a moment alone?" and shut the door when Javious agreed.

He hadn't even seen his parents in about a decade, so they weren't very closely connected to each other. Of course, they weren't bad parents, not at all; they were extremely humble and nothing out of the ordinary. Aemilius had expected their deaths, since he knew they were old, but he didn't know when it would particularly happen. He didn't cry, but he wasn't emotionless. He felt a sort of empty disappointment inside of him, a shade of sadness, but he still didn't cry. He wasn't an emotional person, after all, but he still cared.

So he came to their funeral, spent only a bit of time there, visited their old home and ran over the many memories they had before going back to Chiel. He remembered how his parents had been hesitant upon hearing his interest of being an alchemist, but eventually they let him go, and never saw him again.

It took Aemilius a moment to realize that he was getting off track. He blinked, rubbed his eyes, and realized that he was still wiring in a cable in the homunculus' arm. Damnit. He couldn't focus.

What time was it? Six, seven, eight o'clock? He looked up at the clock on the wall. It was eight o'clock. He should be getting dinner by now; he was hungry and that was causing him to waver. Aemilius laid his tools in the usual neat pattern on the table, still fearing that someone would come in and view him as a dirty, unorganized man, and then he'd be seen as irresponsible, stupid, and weak. Maybe Susan would sneak in and mess everything up and call him lousy. Goddamnit. He had never been so irritated and anxious before. Susan needed to be kicked out from the castle.

He went to the cafeteria and came back with a simple bowl of soup, passing Prince Javious, who greeted him kindly and asked him how he was doing. As usual, Aemilius responded, "Awake and working," though more tiredly than he would normally say it. Javious gave him a sigh and told him, "Aemilius, I am telling you, you need to eat and sleep more. You won't be wasting any time doing it, and I can assure you you'd focus a lot more better."

Aemilius dismissed his suggestion respectfully, saying, "I appreciate your concern, but I am fine. I have been doing this for years." Then he left.

Aemilius finished the soup and dropped the plastic bowl in the recycling can. Then once more, he began to work on his homunculus, though he felt he was growing more and more tired as time went by. But he was perpetually tired, anyway. He didn't think it mattered much.

He rubbed his eyes with his gloved hands. He always had his gloves on, even outside of his lab. He was a very touch repulsed man, and he flinched even at the slightest brush on his shoulder. Many textures made him uncomfortable, since they reminded him of certain things. Examples included watery, gooey textures that reminded him of blood, vomit, and saliva. That was why Susan's little "homunculus" (or what she _thought_ was one) grossed him out so much.

No more thinking about Susan or whatever other annoying person in the castle, even though he felt his thoughts were intruding him right now. Instead, he thought about the many projects he'd created in the past and the much recognition he received for them. It gave him some motivation and his focus soon recollected.

His focus soon snapped, however, when he heard someone say, **"I admire your determination."**

Aemilius' breath caught in his throat. He stiffened. The voice came from… where? It had circled around his ears in only a mere second, and then it disappeared.

The alchemist turned around, bright blue eyes circling the lab, finding nothing. He looked up, then down. No one. Had he imagined it? Was all this sleep deprivation getting to him? His fingers nervously clenched around the tool he was using. He let the silence play out. Was… did he even hear anything?

Slowly and tensely, he turned back to his homunculus, jaw tight.

**"I see that I have startled you."**

There it was again. Aemilius darted around, eyes wildly searching the room. "Who's there?" he blurted, backing up against the table. "Where are you? _Who_ are you?"

**"You are panicking,"** the voice echoed. It was robotic and monotonous, almost static-like upon every word it spoke. **"There is no need for that panic. You will not get hurt."**

"A-Answer my questions. Where are you and who are you?'

**"Not an enemy,"** the voice echoed once more. **"And I cannot be seen by you. Not yet. I am hiding my form. I will reveal myself to you when you are comfortable enough."**

Aemilius' teeth gritted anxiously, fingers curling tighter around the tool. "I… don't know when that will be."

**"It will be soon."**

A chill ran up Aemilius' spine. He stood where he was defensively, jaw clenched.

**"You are still panicking,"** the voice said. **"But there is no need to. You have asked me two questions: who I am and what I am. I assume that if I give you proper answers you will calm down. Is that correct."**

"I… suppose."

**"That is a yes. O-kay. I will now introduce myself so that you can calm down."** The voice paused for a moment.

"My name is YUL. It is an acronym. YUL the acronym stands for: Yottabyte Universal Learner. I am an old entity. I have been alive for a very long time. I go by a main motivation. That motivation is the drive for knowledge. I have plenty of curiosity surrounding you. That is why I have taken interest in you."

"What do you want from me?" Aemilius inquired, fidgeting with his tool and squeezing in next to his homunculus.

"Your knowledge of alchemy."

Aemilius paused. He knew he was a smart and analytical man, named the Royal Alchemist and Thaumaturge of the Oran Kingdom. It was surely a respectable title that he was treated kindly for. But it surprised him that this ancient entity somehow managed to find him. He was… _special_, wasn't he? Then again, he wasn't a man who believed in things like the supernatural, like this "entity", for example.

**"I have been watching you for a very long time,"** YUL continued. **"I have taken much interest in your work. One part that I am most interested in is your homunculus. I have read your notes on it. You have worked very hard. You have worked very long. It is extremely interesting and I wish to learn more about it."**

"You do? _I mean-"_ Aemilius cleared his throat, YUL's praises getting to him and washing away some of the anxiety and fear that he had. "_Yes_, YUL. I would be _honored_ to tell you all that I know."

**"Very good. You will tell me everything. Tell me everything about you. Then I will tell you everything about me."**

Aemilius stopped fidgeting with the tool, and he slowly put it down onto the table, laying it neatly with the other tools like before. "Alright," he said, hesitantly but willingly. "First, however… is it- is it possible that you could reveal to me _how_ you look like? And exactly _where_ you are?"

YUL didn't respond for a long moment, and Aemilius tensed up again. "Just because I think it would be better to focus on something," he quickly said, "and it would be easier for me to talk face-to-face with you."

YUL didn't respond for another long moment. This time, Aemilius kept his mouth shut, waiting for an answer. It was so silent to the point that he thought that the entity had disappeared. Then its robotic, monotonous voice spoke its reply. **"Very well."**

An wind-like sound suddenly entered the lab, growing louder and louder in the middle of the lab, right on top of where the center stone plinth was. Aemilius watched intently as dark smoke began to gather upon the plinth, slowly but not completely taking form. It wasn't long until a pure white beak poked out of the smoke, which had shadowed around the beak like a hood, spraying out like a cloak. The smoke fluttered around its body lightly. Aemilius' eyes widened when he realized that the face of YUL, with its plague doctor mask-like face, was identical to the head of his homunculus. The only difference was that instead of squarish shapes for eyeholes, YUL had wide, cracked circles.

But what surprised Aemilius even more was that he had seen this figure before. A very long time ago, when Jared had fell down the steps of his laboratory, bloody, beaten and battered. At that moment, Aemilius had looked up, and he had seen a silhouette just like YUL.

"A...Are you…"

**"I have taken a similar appearance to your homunculus,"** YUL stated, its voice now coming from its position. **"I take inspiration from things that I am interested in. Therefore I have taken a form similar to your homunculus which means that I have taken interest in you."**

"I've seen you before," Aemilius said. "On the-"

**"Staircase when the human known as Prince Jared Oran grew sick and fell causing many of his sick injuries to burst open in a grotesque display."**

"Yes, the staircase. The staircase. Were you watching me?"

**"I will replace your use of the word 'watching' with 'observing'. I was observing you."**

Aemilius mused for a moment. A sudden sense of dread came over him, and he glanced back at the entity who was hovering upon the stone plinth. "Was there any _other_ reason why you were there?" he asked carefully. "I don't mean to be nosy. I'm just curious." There had to be a reason why YUL had picked that spot at that time, after all.

YUL simply stared eerily at the alchemist, who felt another chill slither down his spine. It seemed to be frozen in time, save for the small tendrils and clouds of smoke floating around its cloak.

**"Tell me about your homunculus,"** it said.

* * *

So indeed did Aemilius tell YUL when he did his work, how he did his work, and why he did his work. It never quite paraphrased much; it only repeated exactly what he said before leading into another question it had. It continued to give little comments here and there, saying things such as "You are a very hardworking man," or "Your work is very interesting." Each time the entity buzzed with those words of praise, Aemilius' ego would be lifted, and at one point he even gave it a bold smile.

Soon, Aemilius' anxious and frustrating thoughts calmed, and he was seemingly back to normal. In fact, his mood leapt up to a high level of happiness. That was rare; the alchemist never felt really happy. Most of the time, he was simply neutral or annoyed. Happiness only came to him when he was given attention or when he presented his projects with pride. Then that joy would fade away, back to his neutral, stoic mood.

It wasn't known how long YUL would stay, but if he were to be honest, Aemilius enjoyed its company. It did not annoy him and it wasn't disrespectfully nosy. It absorbed all of the information he told it with ease. And it asked very interesting questions, as well. It was all around like an acquaintance of curiosity and knowledge to Dr. Dremash. If Aemilius was offered to have an alchemic partner, he would choose YUL. He knew he told himself over and over, The supernatural is not real, but with this entity around, he wasn't sure if he still believed that.

Even when Aemilius enjoyed YUL's company, he kept its presence a secret from the public. Not just because he wasn't sure how others would react to the ominous creature, but also because he secretly feared that YUL would take interest in someone else and move to them. It seemed to be attracted to anything it found obscure or out of place. The only way Aemilius could keep it at his side was keeping it inside his lab. Could he hide that vulnerable feeling of attachment he had as well as he could hide YUL? He didn't know and he hoped that the answer was yes.

**"It would be helpful to have three meals a day and to get a daily amount of sleep,"** YUL said one day. **"Eating everyday and getting many healthy hours of sleep would help you focus."**

"I am fine like this," Aemilius replied, writing down notes on a tome. He was keeping an entire page based off of his knowledge of YUL. "I've been living like this for _years_."

**"If that is the case then that must mean that you are perpetually tired and at least twenty percent malnourished."**

"There's no need to worry. I know when I can and cannot work." Did he? No, not really. He often pushed himself when he was feeling utterly exhausted and on the edge of passing out.

**"I am not worried,"** was YUL's response. **"I cannot feel worry. I am only suggesting the best schedule and diet for you to maintain your stability and focus."**

"I appreciate you watching out for me."

**"I am always watching you."**

The morbid statement was settled in silence for a moment. The entity then hovered over Aemilius' shoulder, its white beak sticking out at the corner of his vision. YUL saw that he was carefully and proficiently sketching it, hood and cloak and all. Aemilius waited for whatever it had to say. He hoped it was a compliment.

**"Are you writing about me."**

"Yes. I'm drawing you, too."

**"It is accurate."**

"Yes. It's because you're right in front of me." He gave the entity the small hint of a smile. It didn't react. It simply continued to read what Aemilius was writing about it, storing all the information and remembering it.

**"You have asked me before why I was observing you behind Prince Jared Oran,"** it suddenly said, changing the subject and causing Aemilius' small smile to fade. **"I did not give you an answer. But now that we have established a deeper mutual trust I believe that it is necessary to give you that answer."** It floated away from Aemilius, stopping directly in front of him and turning.

**"I visited Prince Jared Oran before I met you Aemilius Dremash. Prince Jared Oran did not take my presence well. He did not like what I suggested to him. He did not fit with me. So he tried to fight me. He lost."**

"That's a shame," Aemilius replied. "He missed an opportunity for you to be by his side." He _knew_ he was the one who made the right choice.

YUL was still for a moment. **"I used a different strategy towards him and many others than when I first encountered you. It made sense for their reactions to be that way. You on the other hand have settled with me easily because of my different approach."**

Aemilius' brow furrowed, and he gave it an inquiring frown. He slowly lowered the tome onto his lap. "What do you mean?"

YUL inched closer. It loomed over the alchemist. There was no aggression in those empty dark orbs that it had for eyes, but Aemilius couldn't help but sink a bit into his chair. There was something unsettling in its gaze that he could not name.

**"I attempted to possess Jared and the others. They were infected with a disease. They were infected because they were not the right host for me. I could not run my powers through them."**

Aemilius froze, and his breath caught in his chest. His eyes were wide. He was connecting the dots in his head to something he had mixed feelings about.

**"You are different,"** YUL said.** "I feel an easy connection with your soul. I could possess you easily."**

"_Whoa_," Aemilius breathed, putting his hands up and shaking his head. "There's… There's _no_ need for you to possess me. We've been on good terms _without_ that idea. I feel connected with you, too. Not in the same way you do, of course, but we are connected nonetheless." He sat up in his chair, attempting to sound unintimidated, though deep down he was shocked. "I've trusted you over these weeks, and all of a sudden, you tell me _this_?" His tone suddenly turned hard and angry. "You can't possess me. I- I don't _know_ how it's like or what you'll do to me!"

**"You have a distressed tone. I question if you are making a threat."**

"A threat? _No_!" Aemilius sputtered, disgruntled. "I _cannot_ allow you to possess me. I've seen what you've done to those people and how sick Prince Jared got. I do not want to end up like them."

**"You will not,"** YUL replied nonchalantly, tilting its head. **"I do not understand why you would think that. You are my perfect host. The other humans I have tried to possess were not. I know that you are the perfect human to run my powers through. Alma's Hospital was something I created to send Prince Jared Oran in because his sickness was the worst and I was curious wanting to experiment with him and find out why. All the other patients and employees were taken. I kept them in a secretive place and experimented with them instead but their lives ended up passing."** YUL tilted its head to the other side. **"This will not happen with you. You will be very easy to possess. All you have to do is relax."**

"You…" Aemilius swallowed. He suddenly realized how much of a corner he was in. He didn't know what other powers YUL had besides making people so terribly sick. He knew now that wouldn't happen to him - which was just a little bit comforting - but if an old entity like this was that capable of such manipulation and ability, versus a human Dr. Dremash, it would beat him easily. Aemilius wasn't that good with words, either.

"What- What would you do if you were to possess me?"

**"I have told you that I am a being of curiosity,"** YUL said. **"I want to do many things to many people. My powers cannot be properly used until I possess a functional host. It's been a very long time since I've found a functional host. Each host is different when my powers run through them. For now I am only curious of what you could do with me possessing you."** YUL hovered even closer. Aemilius stumbled out of his chair and came close to his homunculus, almost hiding behind it.

"Y-You will _not_ do that!" Aemilius exclaimed. "We are _completely fine_ separated. We can speak about science, and- and everything that we have been talking about without the possession part in it!"

**"Do not fight me whether verbally or physically. I can feel your soul twisting refusing my power and control. It is very difficult to possess you if you do not allow me to."**

"_Get away from me_!" he hissed as YUL came even closer, leaving him without an exit.

**"I remind you that I still have powers even without possessing a host,"** YUL blankly stated. **"If you are making a threat then I will have to restrain you."**

"You will not do such things to me!" Aemilius snapped. His fists clenched, and he took a step forward. Because of space, YUL logically took a step back, continuing to be emotionless. "I am Aemilius Dremash, thaumaturge and royal alchemist of the Oran Kingdom! You will never lay your filthy hands on me, you will never do something like possessing me, you will never, ever take control of me!"

Aemilius' teeth were clenched at the end of his words as he glared at the entity. Only when his anger settled down was when he realized how much of a mistake he had made, but he didn't apologize. He stood there strong.

YUL didn't seem to be affected whatsoever by the alchemist's words. It was as frozen as before. For a moment, Aemilius wondered if it was even awake. Then he let out a strangled yelp as a metal hand suddenly launched from its cloak and gripped his throat.

He was shoved against the wall. His glove hands helplessly swiped at the metal fingers at his neck to no avail. He gasped for air, kicking. YUL stayed firm.

**"You are still struggling,"** YUL said.** "I will give you one last chance. If you do not calm down and let me possess you then there will be harsh consequences."**

Aemilius gawked at it with watery red eyes, continuing to gasp and kick and swipe.

**"Very well."**

YUL let another metal arm dart from its cloak and snatch Aemilius' wrist. It pried his hand off. He grunted with clenched teeth, attempting to pull back. That was when YUL squeezed his wrist, and he let out a pained cry as it suddenly twisted his hand the other direction and let him drop to the ground with a _thud!_

Aemilius coughed and sputtered, his lips having almost turned blue from the suffocation. His hand was now twisted backwards, a ring of torn skin around his wrist with raw flesh bloody and wet. A bone was sticking out. Aemilius' head was thudding as he tried to move, only to weakly yelp when a bolt of pain jolted through his hand and arm. He lay there on the ground, cradling his broken wrist against his chest and his watery red eyes dripping with tears from the sheer agony of it.

Aemilius tried once more to move away, but there wasn't anywhere he could go. His throat felt as if it were filled with needles. His wrist was crooked and staring at the bone jutting from his skin made him feel nauseous and dizzy. With every drop of blood that dripped from the red skin, the more he could feel his wrist split open with sharp, aching pain. _Crack_ his wrist went when he tried to look up.

YUL glowered upon him. The smoke within its cloak appeared to swell. **"You are still not giving up,"** it observed. **"According to scientific research pain and torture can cause human beings to give in more easily to forced offers and decisions. The pain can almost control them."** It lowered itself to the ground, staring straight at the weak alchemist.

**"It appears that your wrist is anatomically incorrect. It is necessary to fix it. Would you like me to help."**

Aemilius only let out a choked-up wheeze, only barely managing to shake his head.

**"You have refused. But I will not accept it. It is very unhealthy for an injury to stay like that without any medical attention. I have much medical knowledge."** It outstretched a metal hand.

**"I will not use that knowledge. Torture is necessary for you to give into my possession. Give me your wrist. I will twist it back around."**

Days passed without Javious seeing a single trace of Aemilius. Yes, there were times when the alchemist locked himself up in his laboratory, but at least he would come out before the work would start to get food. Javious knew that Aemilius could take care of himself, but he couldn't help but feel worried for the workaholic of a man every now and then. Sleepless nights and not eating three good meals every single day was surely enough to put a physical and mental effect on him.

Javious couldn't stop himself. He hadn't seen Aemilius since a week ago. That was when the alchemist was at his happiest, seemingly excited to get back to his lab even while not sharing much. Javious wondered if something happened, and his worry grew.

He stood at the steps of Dr. Dremash's laboratory, taking a deep breath before knocking.

There was no response. Javious knocked again. Still no response.

"Aemilius?" he called. "I know you're there. You haven't left your lab in so many days. I'm worried. You vanished without a trace. Are you working on something?"

There came a quick reply. A… too quick reply. "Yes! Yes," Aemilius exclaimed from the other side. His voice was hoarse. "I-I'm working on something. Please leave."

Javious frowned. It wasn't often he heard Aemilius almost… panicky? That never happened. He was always stoic and cold.

"Aemilius, are you alright?"

"Yes, of course. I'm always alright." His tone wavered. "I am completely f-fine, your highness. There's nothing to be worried about."

It didn't settle Javious' concerns. He sighed and pressed his ear against the door. It wasn't completely silent. On the other side, he could hear Aemilius' wheezy breaths. It seemed like he was having trouble breathing.

"I'm still worried," Javious said slowly after a moment. "You don't sound so goo-"

"I'm sick!" Aemilius suddenly shrieked, causing Javious to jump. "I'm- I-I-I'm sick. Please don't worry about me your highness I promise you I'm completely fine and there's nothing wrong with me please just leave me alone I am very stressed right now and I have a cold and-"

"Aemilius!"

Aemilius choked off his words and stayed silent.

"What you're telling me right now, it- it isn't normal, Aemilius," Javious told him firmly. "You sound extremely distressed, but I have never heard you like this before. Please, I am your friend. I will not judge you for whatever is bothering you. Please, please, please, you're completely welcome to speak to me."

On the other side, Aemilius swallowed a lump down his throat. He was shaking, trying to stay steady on his legs, but he was weak. YUL was right next to him, a pointy, sharp fingertip directed right at his neck. He stared down at it with anxious eyes.

"Are you… sick with the same disease Jared had?" Javious guessed.

"...No. I… just have a cold. It's getting close to autumn, isn't it?"

"But you haven't been outside in a week."

"..."

Javious tried to turn the doorknob, only to find that it was locked. But this door couldn't be locked? He realized that Aemilius was holding the knob on the other side. He clenched his jaw, sighing.

"You have to let me in," Javious quietly said.

Aemilius' bloodshot blue eyes nervously darted to YUL, then its sharp metallic fingertip. He pursed his lip, trying desperately to come up with an explanation or excuse.

"I'm…. just…. going through a really difficult time right now, your highness."

"Javious," he replied softly. "You can call me Javious. It's okay."

"Your high- Javious. I'm… just not doing very well."

"I understand. I don't want to pressure you if you don't want to, but it's good to have someone to talk to about whatever you're upset about." Javious leaned against the door. "I have never heard you sounding so… sick. And weak. Something must've gotten to you really badly."

"Yes…"

"Was it… the death of your parents?"

Aemilius paused for a moment. Javious just spoonfed him the excuse he was trying to come up with. "Yes," he replied, attempting to sound dragged down with sadness and grief. "And I would like to be left alone about that."

Javious frowned, but the expression wasn't one of suspicion. Instead, it was one of sympathy. "I'm sorry to hear that. You seemed so happy last week, but I suppose that everybody mourns differently."

"...Yes." YUL continued to stare at him.

"Well, thank you for telling me that, Aemilius. I appreciate you being honest with me. Just remember: I am always here for you. Please, you are always welcome to talk to me."

"Okay."

"Take care of yourself, okay?"

"Okay."

"Alright. Have a good day, Aemilius. I'll check on you tomorrow."

Javious smiled to himself before walking back down the laboratory stairs. Aemilius pressed his ear against the door and waited until the steps faded out. That was when he let out a heavy sigh of relief. YUL drew its hand back into its cloak and stood back up nonchalantly. Aemilius stared up at it fearfully, but he attempted to look brave, clenching one of his fists and keeping his expression as cold as possible. His eyebrow twitched.

**"That was very close,"** YUL finally said. **"You lied decently."**

It paused, staring at him. His face had gotten pale and more gaunt, and his injured hand was crookedly wrapped with gauze and bandage. A patch of blood was on the wrapping. But some of that anger and arrogance from the previous week still shown in his eyes, even when it seemed he was fighting to stay awake.

**"You are still fighting my possession,"** it noticed. **"Why."**

"It's the most I can do," Aemilius hissed. "I'll fight you off as long as I can."

**"You'll fall asleep eventually."**

Aemilius sharpened his gaze into a glare. YUL didn't react.

* * *

Even when he tried so hard to, Aemilius couldn't stay awake. He ended up passing out on the floor, just like YUL predicted. It managed to catch him before he fell, however, because it didn't want any more damage to its host. It decided to lay his unconscious body gently on his bedroom bed. The lights were off and it was dark.

YUL's form shook. Its cloak swelled up. Then its entire body, including its plague doctor-esque mask, twisted into a thin black wisp of smoke. That wisp of smoke traveled into Aemilius' head, suddenly disappearing.

Aemilius began to stir. His expression crinkled, brow furrowing. He mumbled underneath his breath. "Get out… get out…" His head began to turn from side to side, sweat beading his face. His mumbling turned into stammering. Unconsciously, his hands pressed against his temples, clenching his teeth and turning from side to side. "Get- out- out, out, ouuuuut!" he hissed.

His injured hand suddenly began to creak and twist. It was seemingly fixing itself. With a few pops and cracks, the wrist and hand was suddenly back to the way it was before, and the bandage loosened and slipped off. The torn-open flesh was gone.

That was when Aemilius' eyes darted open, and with a gasp, he sat up, hands around his throat. The bruises to his neck were gone. He began to gag. A black cloud launched from his mouth, settling at the foot of the bed and recollecting into YUL's usual form.

YUL was silent. Aemilius coughed and sputtered hoarsely. With his fingers caressing his throat, his groggy eyes fluttered as he gawked at the entity across from him.

**"So it is not possible to possess you while you are asleep either. You still fight me off."** Its dark eyes flickered, its beak raising up into the air slightly. **"Interesting."**

Then it glided away slowly. It sat itself in the corner of the room. It stared at Aemilius for a while longer before losing interest and looking somewhere else. With this new information in mind, Aemilius suddenly noticed that his hand was completely healed. He observed it, turning it back and forth, pulling down his sleeve to look at his wrist. There wasn't any blood or reminder of the injury that used to be there.

Should he be glad, or should he be bewildered? He didn't know; he felt a bit of both. He wasn't exactly sure how it healed up, but his best guess was that YUL's powers, which only resonated inside of him for a few moments, did the work. Did those advantages of a possible possession relax his worries? No. Absolutely not.

But at least, Aemilius figured, he could get some rest. For once in his life, he wanted sleep, because it was better than having a morbid staring contest with YUL from across the room. He let out a deep, exhausted sigh before carefully laying down, gazing at his healed hand before falling asleep.

* * *

YUL had told him precisely to never leave the laboratory. Was he going to listen? He did listen for the past few weeks, because he knew he couldn't do much with a sore throat and a broken, unrepairable hand. But now that his injuries were gone, he wondered if he had more of an advantage than before.

One thing he noticed about YUL was that it got distracted by things it found interesting. The day after his hand was broken, Aemilius allowed it to observe and investigate the entire laboratory. It spent hours reading his many books and notes, asking him questions even when he wasn't in a good enough mood to genuinely want to answer them. He only answered the questions because he was afraid it would hurt him again.

Attempting an escape would be a risk, yes, but it was now or never. Aemilius conjured up a plan in his head as he stared at YUL, who was staring back and not saying anything whatsoever.

Later, YUL disappeared and came back with breakfast for the alchemist. It had casually asked him what he wanted. He didn't answer, wanting to think. So it came back with a styrofoam tray of scrambled eggs and half of a waffle with a small carton of milk. It was almost an exact copy of what Aemilius had for breakfast a week ago, except this time it had a beverage with it. It presented the food to the man blankly, only stating,** "Your breakfast."**

Aemilius went over his plan as he ate his food, chewing absentmindedly and staring into empty space. YUL watched him but lost interest. Instead, it floated around the room, relooking at shelves and corners of the room. Aemilius observed it intently.

Indeed, he was growing weaker with every passing day, both physically and mentally. Constantly, he was feeling YUL's grip on him, trying to tear open the pathway to connect with his mind, but Aemilius had never allowed it to. It was a terrible feeling, one that made him feel nauseous when he attempted to strengthen his guard, and it also made his head ache. He made sure to stay away from it as much as he could at all times to weaken its dreadful aura.

He was going to have to escape soon and quick before YUL could possess him.

Making sure to finish all of his breakfast for energy, he cleared his throat and assumed a confident position, crossing his arms and holding his head up high. "Ahem."

YUL's head twisted towards him. It said nothing, waiting.

"I can tell that you enjoy my work," Aemilius continued carefully. "At least observing it and learning more about it."

**"I do not have the emotional capability to enjoy things,"** was its response.

"_Well_, you're interested in my work. I have something for you." Aemilius walked over to one of his cabinets, opened it, and took out a large folder. It was filled with his own nonfictional writing about his life; it was almost like a diary, but he would find the idea of calling it one preposterous. He hadn't read the folder in a very long time, but he supposed that it was interesting enough for YUL to investigate. He walked over to the entity and stood right in front of it so that his back was to the laboratory wall.

YUL's hands were already out. Aemilius put the folder in its hands.

"This folder contains a lot of my work _before_ my major alchemy projects," he explained. "And it also contains plenty of information about me. I suppose it wouldn't hurt to learn a bit more about your host, would it?"

**"I already know what I need to know."**

Aemilius stiffened. For a moment, he thought it was going to refuse the folder, but then it opened it and pulled out a paper. He had to stop himself from sighing in relief.

**"But you are correct Aemilius. It would be useful to know more about you."**

Its head tilted down, and it began to read. Aemilius waited a few moments before slowly moving out of its way so that it was only facing the wall and not him. It didn't notice.

Aemilius' heart pounded in his chest. This was it. This was the moment. He very carefully tiptoed away, keeping an eye on YUL in case if it looked at him. But the only movement it had was turning its head from side to side and turning the papers. Aemilius' mouth went dry as he stared at the floor of his laboratory, eyes darting to each and every individual line in the wood. It didn't feel right just walking like this. His face was heating up, sweaty.

Right foot. Right foot. Left foot. Right foot. Right foot. Left foot. Left foot.

The floorboards squeaked. Aemilius froze in his tracks. He anxiously gawked at YUL. Its movements stiffened, and its head turned upwards as if to sense the sound. Then it steadily looked back down, continuing to examine the papers.

Aemilius had to stop himself from sighing in relief again. Instead, he held his breath, continuing the same pattern. It was necessary for him to stay quiet and sneak out. It would work, he knew. Right. Right. Left. Right. Right. Left. Left. He kept looking back. He wasn't sure if YUL was turning its head to glance at him every time he turned around. Right. Right. Left. Right. Right. Left. Left. He wondered if he was allowed to breathe.

The door. Right. Right. So close. Left. Right. He carefully outstretched a hand, looking down at his feet as they stepped over the lines of the floorboards. Very slowly, he pulled open the door…

**"Where are you going."**

Aemilius froze, eyes immediately darting to YUL. It was staring straight at him. Its head had turned 180 degrees.

"Nowhere," Aemilius said quietly.

**"You are not allowed to leave."**

"I-I know that, however-"

**"Why is the door open."**

"It's open, well, because-"

**"Close it."**

Aemilius tried to swing the door open and dart outside when suddenly something latched onto him and dragged him back. He yelped as his shoes scraped against the wooden floor, irritated and anxious that he touched the lines. He was whipped around to look directly into the eyes of YUL. A sticky, gooey back tendril was wrapped around the alchemist.

**"It seems that you made an attempt to mislead me,"** YUL stated. **"It was in order for you to escape the lab. You have spotted my weaknesses and used them against me."** It pulled him closer, its beak almost poking between his eyes. **"I will not allow you to do that again."**

"I- fine. _Yes_, I was trying to escape. I won't do it again." A lie, but he couldn't say anything else right now.

YUL didn't appear satisfied, however, because it pulled back its tendril and let Aemilius fall onto the floor with a thud. It glided over to one of the tables next to his homunculus and took many of his tools with a dark cloud of smoke before gliding back to where the alchemist was. He came back onto his feet, backing up frantically.

"_Put my tools down_!" he hissed. "There is _no_ _reason_ why you should be putting your _filthy_ hands on them!"

**"Filthy is not an accurate word to describe any part of me. And I have a reason that I am using your tools."** It paused, hovering in front of him. **"My patience is not expressive however it is running very low. I need you weakened so I can finally possess you. I have been waiting for a very long time." **

Before Aemilius could react, the gooey black tendrils of smoke launched out towards him once more, pulling him towards YUL. He clenched his teeth and grunted, trying to pull away, but he couldn't. Once more, he was right in front of the frightening entity. Then it shoved him to the ground, kneeling on him and pressing its metal knee onto his chest. He squirmed and kick to no avail.

"You can try all you want," he snarled, "but I will _not_ break."

YUL tilted its head curiously. Aemilius glared right back up at it.

**"O-kay."**

A metal hand launched from the side of its cloak, pinning down one of his arms. He tried to shove them off, once again, to no avail. And then another arm launched out, this time with sharp, pointed… were they even fingers? They appeared to be more like shining blades, gleaming. Aemilius' eyes widened, and he tried desperately to break free from YUL's grip.

**"I have read in your journals that you do not like substances such as blood,"** YUL stated.** "However this procedure will be gory and will cause you major injuries. It is recommended to not speak as I perform this operation."**

Before Aemilius could say anything else, YUL rose its sharp fingers before chopping directly down onto his wrist, completely splitting his hand from his arm.

Aemilius let out a horrendous scream, curling and writhing. Blood splattered from the open wound. YUL stayed where it was. It pulled back its sharp fingers into its cloak before taking its other remaining hand and covering Aemilius' mouth, muffling his cries of pain. He curled up, cradling the stump of his arm against his chest, letting out heavy, sob-like breaths as his eyes dribbled agonized tears. He gawked in horror at the wound. His stomach churned. Nausea pounded into his head. He choked and looked up at YUL, who was as cold and still as ever.

**"It appears that that has given you great distress,"** it said blankly. **"However I believe it isn't enough yet." **

"Wh… hh…" He coughed, gasping and choking.

It tilted its head again, staring at the hand that was covering Aemilius' mouth. It seemed interested. It slowly took its hand off. Once more, another hand launched out from its cloak and grabbed one of the tools it had. A small plier. It forced Aemilius' jaws open, taking the plier and gripping it onto one of his teeth. Aemilius groaned, unable to see through the tears of pain in his eyes.

YUL internally counted to three before forcefully tugging the tooth out of its socket. Aemilius let out another scream as blood trickled from his mouth. YUL took hold of another one of his teeth and counted once more. Aemilius squirmed, desperately trying to snap his head away. YUL did not let go. It pulled the tooth out. He let out a strangled cry.

**"Are you giving up yet,"** YUL asked. Before Aemilius could even make the attempt to answer, YUL took the pliers and reached deep into his mouth, having the pliers take hold of one of the man's back teeth. His tongue was covered with droplets of red. YUL's hand tightly gripped onto his jaw, keeping his head still. Counting internally again, it yanked the tooth out. Aemilius only let out a weak, raw rasp. YUL finally let go and stood above him, watching him curl up.

**"That is enough,"** it said. **"But you must stay quiet. You must not arouse suspicion. No one can find you."**

Aemilius held his bleeding wrist against his chest, his other hand clasping his mouth. He was shaking profusely, eyes squeezed shut. His tongue tasted the bitter, coppery blood in his mouth. His gums were swollen. His head was thudding. The blood was getting all over his lips and clothes, spilling onto the floor. He was dizzy. He felt as if he were about to pass out. All that he could do in response to YUL's question was look up at it in fear and humiliation while groaning and whining weakly.

YUL tilted its head curiously, watching him shake. It picked up his chopped off hand, observing it. It continued to dribble with red.

**"You will be underneath my control very soon."**

* * *

"So should we allow these products to come into Oran?"

Amber raised her hand. Javious nodded in her direction.

"It would be very useful, your highness," she mused, sitting calmly at the meeting table. "These products, such as phones, laptops, and tablets, would improve communication. It would lessen the use of paper, and people wouldn't have to wait days to receive letters when they can simply 'call' each other."

"How do these phones work?" another employee at the table asked.

"From what I've heard, they are touch-based," Javious answered. "They are these little screens that are activated by body heat. And on these little screens, there are these programs called apps. You can tap on them. The app opens, and then you'll be able to do things within the app."

"But… what's the reason, your highness?"

"These apps have different function," Javious continued with a smile. "Some of them can be messaging apps where you can contact anyone who also has that app. There are also apps that have this thing called 'social media', which is where anybody can make an account - though I believe you have to be of certain age to - and talk with other people. 'Posts' show up on your personal 'dashboard' to people you 'follow' on social media, and you can see what's going on and what they decide to post."

"Hm," the employee replied, stroking his chin. "That sounds very useful. What are the costs?"

"There is not any," Amber answered, which visibly surprised many of the listeners at the table. "All we have to do is allow these technology companies into Oran, and they will sell and do their business. There is no money we must give to them."

Javious nodded along with her. "The least we can do is give them land. However, they will have to buy the land on their own."

"How much do these devices usually cost?"

"Plenty of money. They can range from around 200 corona to even 1,000 corona. It all depends on the quality of the device and what comes with it. I don't believe a family would be able to afford many devices for everyone in their family if the cost is this expensive, but just having one device with plenty apps and accounts - and sharing - is useful enough."

"The downside of these devices is that they are very commonly used with this power called WiFi. It travels from something called a 'radio tower' through radio waves. We must build and install plenty of them in order to create this WiFi, and that will cost plenty of corona. Another downside is that these devices can be very addictive, even when they can accomplish things faster. We should set warnings for these devices before they are sold."

"Good idea, Amber," Javious complimented. He placed his hands on the table, looking around at all the members. "So, do we agree to have these companies come into Oran, build radio towers, and take responsibility for any corruption and mishap as well as any questions directed towards us?"

The members all glanced at each other before nodding their heads. "We do," they replied.

"Good. Thank you all for coming to this meeting. You are now dismissed."

They all stood up and left the room.

Javious remembered yesterday when he said he would check on Aemilius. He did. Well, he tried, but no answer came to the door whatsoever. A bit of pity crawling back into his chest, he guessed that the alchemist was either asleep (which was unlikely) or lacking the energy to talk.

The prince didn't blame him; family deaths often sunk in for a very long time. He knew from personal experience when his father, the previous king of Oran, passed away. He was a kind and brave old man who cared for both of his twin sons, but he saw the most potential in Javious for his high knowledge in politics, compassion, and openness. Jared didn't take that very well at first, of course, because he felt left out. There wasn't much interest in him, even when he knew he was still loved and cherish. He had felt jealous. Most of that jealousy died down, however, now that he was calmer and a better person after meeting Susan.

It was around evening. After Javious finished eating dinner with Jared and Susan, he noticed once more, like every other day, that Jared was strangely quiet. Susan was happy and enthusiastic, but almost _too_ happy and enthusiastic, like she was trying to cover something up. But every time Javious attempted to ask if anything was wrong, the couple would either interrupt with a different subject or answer, respectively in a mumble or exclamation, "Things are going great!" or something similar.

He decided that the two of them could handle whatever they were struggling on their own. They had done that many times before, after all. They were strong people.

Javious walked up to the stairs of Dr. Dremash's laboratory. He took a deep breath. He didn't want to disturb the alchemist if he was trying to sleep, and even when the prince believed that most likely wasn't the case, he decided to knock quietly.

He heard someone yelp from the other side, and the _clingclingcling!_ of something metal falling onto the ground.

"Aemilius? I'm sorry that I startled you. Are you alright?"

There was no response. Javious huffed. "Come on, Aemilius. Don't be afraid to respond. I'm worried whether you're hurt or not."

"I don't want to talk right now," he heard the alchemist exclaim, voice shaky and shrill. He sounded… he was having trouble speaking. "Please leave me alone, your highness."

"You sound frightened."

"I-I _am_\- how do I sound frightened?"

"I have never heard you speak like that. You've done the same two days ago."

"I-I can assure you, your highness, that I am _completely_ alright! Do not worry about me. I know you have very good intentions but I cannot talk right now and I am very stressed."

There wasn't ever a time when Javious heard Aemilius praising someone other than himself. He squinted and pressed his ear against the door. There was this harsh scribbling sound that was far away, most likely on one of the walls, and it was on Javious' left. That was probably where Aemilius was.

"You do sound very stressed," Javious slowly said. "Please take a moment to breathe. Slowly count to ten and just br-"

"I do not have time for that!" Aemilius exclaimed. "I have to work on my- my project. It's very important."

"What is your project?"

"It is none of your business!" Aemilius paused. "Your...Your _highness_. It's not anything you should concern yourself with…"

"I am sorry, but I can't believe you. I am concerned. You shouldn't be hiding things from me in such an insecure, scary way." Javious' brow furrowed. "You're worrying me greatly."

"Well, I shouldn't be. _You_ shouldn't be worried."

Javious clenched his jaw. He knew it was rude and informal to do what he was about to do, but he didn't want Aemilius to be acting like this. Aemilius, in the prince's vision, was a friend. He deserved to be given help.

"I'm coming in, Aemilius," he announced, hand already on the doorknob.

The alchemist's panic was clear on the other side. "W-Wait! No, you aren't, you aren't! _Agh_!" The sound of messy shuffling feet then came into Javious' ears.

Javious shook his head. "I'm coming in!"

He twisted the knob and swung open the door.

He gawked in horror.

The entire laboratory, from walls to floors to tables and cabinets, was covered in writing. Black writing, with a chalky, dusty texture. Words, symbols, and drawings were swarming everywhere, invading what was once the cleanly kept interior of Dr. Dremash's workplace. Javious' dark and wide eyes darted back and forth, picking out little words. _I AM INSIDE A PRISON. YUL IS THE ULTIMATE ENTITY. YUL IS THE MOST POWERFUL, THE MOST GRANDEUR, THE MOST ANCIENT. IT KEEPS ME IN A CAGE WHERE I CAN NEVER ESCAPE. IT WILL KEEP ME HERE UNTIL I FALL._

And amongst these words was a ghastly, hauntingly artistic drawing of a creature with a plague doctor-like mask, hollow, circular eyes, and a black cloak wrapping around its head like a hood and draping downwards like a curtain.

Javious turned to his left. Other drawings and words were etched around the room, even on the ceiling. But oddly enough, they were all in an organized fashion. In fact, an almost too organized fashion. What was the source of all of this? The prince's answer was the man against the wall.

Javious couldn't believe his eyes. Aemilius' physical state had decreased greatly. The once fair, neatly groomed back golden hair of the alchemist was now ruffled and messy like a yellow nest. His skin was eerily paler than the whitest of bones, and his face was gaunt and bony. His once bright blue eyes were bloodshot and droopy, the bags underneath seeming like purple bruises. His skeleton seemed to be sticking out of his neck, and his lab coat hung loosely onto his haggard frame. But what shocked Javious the most was that… Aemilius was missing a hand?!

"A… Aemilius," Javious stammered, shocked. "Wh-What _happened_ to you?" He took a step fo-

"Don't move!" the alchemist suddenly shrieked, causing the prince to jump. "You'll mess up the drawings!" His anger vanished in a second, replaced by embarrassment. He swallowed. "Your… Your highness."

At this point, Javious didn't even care about his royal title. "I told you to call me Javious."

"J-Javious. Yes."

"What is all of this?" he exclaimed, gesturing fearfully to the macabre display around them. "And- And what happened to your hand?!"

"Experiment went wrong," Aemilius quietly replied, his mouth movements small and unpronounced. It almost sounded like he had developed a slight lisp. From what? "E-Experiment went wrong," he repeated even more quietly.

"And you didn't come out to get any medical attention?!"

"N-No, I fixed on my own," he shakily replied.

"What did you do, Aemilius?!"

"Calm down."

"I can't! You've been hiding an injury such as this from my responsibility? The last thing that i want is for the people in this castle to be so dangerously hurt!" Javious' fists clenched. "I know you're a scientist and all, but you can't be hiding-"

"Please get out."

Javious huffed, taking deep breaths and trying to calm himself. He couldn't be angry. He wouldn't be able to solve this situation if he were unfocused. He closed his eyes. He reopened them with a new determined fixation. Aemilius, on the other hand, did his best to show as little expression as possible.

"Aemilius," Javious said slowly but firmly, "I don't know what you've been doing, but whatever it is, it needs to stop." He couldn't take his eyes off the missing hand. Looking at it made him feel nauseous. "It's hurting you. Both physically and mentally." Javious pointed at the strange, birdlike drawing on the wall. "What is that supposed to be?"

Aemilius opened his mouth, but no words came out. His lips curled over his teeth. His eyes twitched as he stared, sheepishly swaying from side to side. "Nothing," he muttered.

There wasn't ever a time when the alchemist would be saying such major things in such a quiet tone, or even appear self-contained when speaking to the royal prince. He was supposed to be a bold man. "It isn't just nothing," Javious told him. "And this is clearly more than just mourning your parents' deaths. You have to tell me: who is… 'YUL'?"

"No one!" Aemilius exclaimed before recollecting himself. "It's no one, your high- Javious."

Javious narrowed his eyes. He observed Aemilius' face for a moment before muttering, "There's something wrong with your teeth."

"Hm?"

"Your teeth. There's something wrong with them."

Aemilius winced, pursing his lips and shaking his head frantically.

Without warning, Javious strode over to him, who immediately yelped and hissed, "You're messing them up! The drawings!"

"Show me your teeth," Javious said quietly.

"No-" A hoarse, harsh squawk emitted from him as his arms jerkily came up to cover his mouth. Javious approached him with a strict expression. He instructed calmly, "Aemilius, put your arms down. I need to see." He reached out with gentle hands, but the alchemist jerked away. "Aemilius, please. Stop hiding all of this from me. Did this 'YUL' do this to you?"

"Stop-"

"Stop trying to hide this from me!" he exclaimed. He didn't want to hurt the already frail man, but he had to see. He tightly gripped Aemilius' elbows, and since he was much more in shape than him, he was able to push his arms down and quickly get a hold of his jaws, almost prying them open.

What he saw was almost what he expected, yet he felt he could've been more prepared. Aemilius' usually pearly teeth were stained with a light shade of yellow. A few of his teeth was easily noticed to be out of place. One in the back, two in the near front. They were a shimmery white. Near the gums, however, there were dark brown stains, barely able to even be seen. A harsh odor, coppery and bitter, was emitting from Aemilius' mouth.

Aemilius himself seemed to have given up trying to struggle, for his arms had laid limp the entire time as Javious was examining him. When the prince stepped back, he saw that the alchemist' bloodshot eyes were wide, and a mixture of fear, irritation, and anxiety gleamed within them. In Javious, pity and anger boiled within him.

"Leave," Aemilius demanded, voice wavering. He took his remaining hand and pointed towards the door. "Leave me alone."

"Who is YUL? Tell me. Right now."

"I told you to leave, J-Javious," he hissed. "I will be fine."

"You have a bloody mouth, a missing hand, and a laboratory full of writing and drawings that clearly signal that you are in danger!" Javious suddenly shouted, fists clenched. "You are not fine, Aemilius, and I am going to get you away from this YUL." He snatched Aemilius' hand, only softening his grip once he realized his anger was getting the best of him. He began to march away, but the alchemist tugged back. His eyes were watching his feet panickedly as they stepped onto the lines of the floorboards beneath.

"Let me go!" he barked as he was being dragged along. "It's dangerous for me to step outside, Javious, I-I- I cannot be taken out of my lab!" He tried to plank his feet in between the floorboards, but to no avail. Javious was much stronger than him.

"Stop resisting," the prince commanded. "I will not stand to see a friend of mine be manipulated to avoid getting help! Come on! You can't stay here any longer. I don't know who or what YUL is, but it is dangerous."

"No, it is a… friend! It's a friend!"

"A friend does not hurt you," Javious snapped, tugging. "We have to go-"

The lights overhead suddenly flickered, then clicked off, bathing the laboratory in total darkness. Javious let out a shout as a jolt of sharp pain suddenly ran through his body. He let go of Aemilius and fell to the ground, pins and needles vibrating within his veins as black and white flashed before his eyes. He gasped, his arms and legs buzzing. Aemilius gawked with wide eyes.

The light flickered back on. Aemilius' shaky arms crossed uncomfortably. Javious' ear rung.

"Wh..." He slowly looked up to the alchemist's gaunt face, twitching and quivering. "What was that?"

The lights flickered once more. Aemilius winced. In his eyes was a hint of fear, twitching within the thin red webs spreading onto the pearly white flesh. Was it cowardly to admit that he was afraid? Terrified, even? Not of what he was capable of, but of what was going to happen to him. And, possibly, how everybody else would react.

Like an echo, YUL's voice rung in his head, a faint memory of this week. I want experiments. You will get me them.

"You need to leave," Aemilius croaked hoarsely. "You have to."

Javious gulped, his confidence in saving the alchemist fading. The golden gaze within his brown eyes wavered, rotted, and disappeared. He was a prince. He was supposed to keep everyone in the kingdom safe. He was to take responsibility for everything.

But as he looked into Aemilius' eyes, he knew that this was something he couldn't solve. It was something he couldn't comprehend, either.

To shaken to mutter good luck or goodbye, Javious scrambled to his feet and ran. Out the laboratory, down the steps, his ears still ringing and his body still buzzing, heart pounding in his chest.

* * *

The shocked prince settled in his office, sitting at his desk with his head in his hands. It was late and he had a few papers to sign, but he had little energy to do them. Instead, his mind was whizzing on and off, focusing intently on the subject of Aemilius. Who was YUL? What was YUL? How did YUL get into this castle without anyone noticing? Was it a demon, an entity? Javious knew Aemilius did not believe in such things, but it was the only possibility.

Was it? Javious pondered for a moment. He felt that it was rude to assume, but Aemilius' mental state was surely dragged down by his lack of sleep and workaholism. Perhaps he became too obsessed. It felt disrespectful to think about, but Javious couldn't deny that Aemilius wasn't a man who took care of himself very well. He remembered the faint image of the drawings of YUL on the laboratory wall, floor, and ceiling. It looked like a bird, its head having been a plague-doctor like mask. It seemed familiar. Then Javious realized: it was extremely similar to the homunculus in his lab.

When Aemilius first introduced the project, he had said that it was an experiment - a special experiment. Alchemy involved the work of a philosopher's stone, which was said to allow the transfer of energy to whatever it was placed upon. Aemilius had explained, while showing the clear, crystallike, circular stone, that it would be fixed into the homunculus' chest, where it would be able to produce nearly endless amount of energy - only limited amounts at a time. He had also explained that philosopher stones could keep and imprison souls, entities, and demons, basically anything that didn't have a physical form. He had read that over time, that soul or entity or demon could grow "dishevelled" over time, as the alchemist had quoted with gesturing hands. It was simply a way to say, "it would relapse into a more messed-up, broken state, both physical and mental". Whether or not that state could be healed was never exactly said.

Aemilius had further revealed that once he was finished building the homunculus, he would transfer his soul into the stone, giving him control of the homunculus so that it would act as his new body; his old body would disappear, apparently. Javious had grew immediately concerned at that point, of course, especially after Aemilius' explanation of the "dishevelled" progression. But the alchemist reassured him and said that if anything would go wrong, he would find some sort of reverse process so that his original body and soul would be returned.

It had been years since Aemilius explained all of that. Javious wondered how deeply the man had gotten into it.

Javious sighed. He stood up, walking along the velvet carpet of his office and looking out the window. The sky was a mixture of grey and blue. It was dark, and it was raining. Thunder crackled in the distance. Javious shivered. He could still feel the shock Aemilius had given him. He hoped it wasn't intentional.

Whatever YUL was, Javious would surely investigate it, and he would get Aemilius out of its grasp.

But he didn't know how dangerous it could be.

* * *

Javious and his employees were still awake at midnight to try and finish their individual work. Working in the government, especially the Oran Kingdom government, especially the Oran Kingdom government after all these dangerous occurrences happening, took plenty of time up in one's usual day. The castle was still alive with light, and the hallways had footsteps dancing back and forth amongst the tiled floors. Guards stood in their positions as usual. Thunder crackled outside.

Then the lights fizzed and crackled before the entire castle shut off into darkness.

It frightened and surprised many of the employees, but they soon recollected themselves. Some fire and electricity mages (one of the latter being the royal advisor, Amber Lapoise) conjured a few balls of flames and light to be used as torches. "Hey," one of the guards asked, "can you electricity mages feel anything? Try to turn the lights back on?"

The answer was no. "I can feel the electricity," Amber said, her delicate mage horns sprouted from her head. "But I cannot control it. Something's holding it back."

"Maybe something's wrong with the power supply."

"I would still be able to control the electricity somehow."

The employees all muttered amongst themselves.

"I'm sure it's just a little issue," the guard reassured them all. "Similar things have happened before."

Javious came from the princes' hallway, followed by Jared and Susan, who were not dressed in formal clothing and instead had their comfortable pajamas on. "What's going on?" Javious asked.

"Something's wrong with the power supply," the guard replied. "The electricity mages can't control anything."

Javious' eyes met Amber's, who nodded, turning a sphere of electricity in her hands.

"I can go down and try and fix it," Susan offered, generous but tired.

"That's kind of you, Sue, but I'm sure it's fine. You look exhausted." Javious turned his gaze to his brother. "You too, Jared."

Jared grunted groggily in return, hands in his pockets.

"I don't think this situation is serious," Javious admitted. "The lights will be off in another hour, anyway. I'm sure we can manage, can't we?"

The employees gave questioning replies, some of them shrugging or shaking their heads.

"We'll get some old-fashioned torches from the basement," he continued. "And we'll hang them around the castle. It'll take only a little while. I hope you can forg-"

_"AAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIGHHHHHHHH!"_

They all shook and jumped as the ear-piercing scream echoed through the castle hallways. A harsh inhale, gritty and hoarse, then another horrid scream. Sobbing, crying desperately, so much that it seemed like the broken roar of an animal. "HELP," he shrieked. "HELP MEEEEEEEEEEE."

Javious shivered, fists clenched. It was coming from Aemilius' lab.

"Go," Javious commanded to the guards. "Go! Amber, follow them with your light! Everybody else, stay back!"

In an instant, the guards and the royal advisor followed Javious as he ran hurriedly up the stairs, the clanking of feet and metal armor thumping along the stone steps. Aemilius continued to scream and cry. His voice cracked and turned hoarse. It was piercing through Javious' ears like a terrible siren, one that thumped in his head and continued to grate into his brain even after he slammed the door open with a shaky thud!

They entered the dark room with an intense, dramatic stomp, guards piling around the prince as he stood tall, his royal advisor at his side. He gritted his teeth. "YUL, face me!"

It was suddenly silent.

Then the lights flickered, dimmed, and shined eerily upon the figure in the room.

He was curled into a ball on the floor in the middle of the room, staring at something in his hands. His head twitched ever so slightly. Javious cautiously took a step forward, asking, "Aemilius…?"

His screams echoed sharply once more, causing the guards and Amber to jump back. Javious held his hands against his ears. Then he lowered them slowly, eyes wide and brow furrowed, confusion taking over him.

In Aemilius' hands was a rat. It was squirming back and forth like a little toy, vibrating intensely. The screams weren't coming from Aemilius. It was coming from… that? It was so impossibly loud and it sounded so impossibly like Dr. Dremash that Javious swore his ears were playing tricks on him. Then Aemilius slowly stood up, turning around.

There was no emotion on his face. His eyes were heavy, lips twitching as they were set into a grim, dark line. He stared at them stiffly for a moment, listening without a word to his own recorded screams coming from the dirty rodent.

Then he rose it up to his mouth and bit into it.

Javious' fists clenched, his eyes widening as blood squirted from the squirming rat, bones crunching painfully as its screams mangled from pitch to pitch before it finally broke. Aemilius pulled its body away from his face. Its head was sandwiched between his yellow teeth as a string of long, red flesh stretched between the two separate pieces like rubber. Then he proceeded to shove the rest of the corpse into his mouth, crunching and gulping as blood dribbled from his lips and chin.

Without warning, Aemilius let out a deafening shriek. Black cracks sprouted all over his face and neck. His eyes became swirls of horrible darkness. His body shook and writhed as if he were a marionette. Electricity swarmed throughout him, bringing static onto his ruffled hair and clothing. He shook the entire laboratory as the electricity suddenly bolted from him and into one of the faces of the guards. The guard screamed in agony as his armor vibrated intensely on his body, his skin soon burning and turning into a crisp as he fell onto the floor as a pile of black ashes.

That enough was enough to say there wasn't any use in fighting. In fear, Javious cried with all his might, "RUN!"

For the first time in their lives, the guards retreated. Javious and Amber ran as well, almost stumbling down the laboratory staircase before another bolt of lightning came from the doorway, and a sickly woosh whizzed past all of their ears. Smoke suddenly filled the remaining space they had, thick and unbearably dark, smelling of greasy oil and aluminum. Javious couldn't do more than hold his breath and try desperately to navigate himself through the clouds until he stumbled through the doorway, coughing.

The employees in the castle hall all turned to look at him, surprised.

"Get out! Leave the castle now!" he bellowed. "Go, go, go!"

Amber and the guards stumbled out behind him, shouting the same commands. "Get out quickly! Run as fast as you can!" And everybody followed, too afraid to discover what had frightened them so much.

But as they all dashed to the castle doors, a thundering crash fell onto the ground in front of them. The possessed Dr. Dremash let out a threatening hiss, the black cracks on his face and neck somehow deeper than before. They were beginning to steam. As the employees let out gasps and shrieks of fright, Aemilius opened his mouth, and black smoke shot out from it, filling the entire hallway with thick, dark clouds.

Even when the fire and electricity mages tried desperately to force their flames and spheres of lightning to grow brighter, brighter, but they could barely see anything in the suffocating darkness. Instead, they grabbed tightly onto the nearest person, hoping that they could stay close.

Javious and Amber held on to each other when they suddenly heard screams. They turned around quickly enough to see one of the mages fling upwards as if they were a puppet on a string. The mage's flame quickly died out, and they were silent. Then they heard more yelps and screams. An ice mage was flinging jets of frost in all directions, trying to find the possessed monster, only to be flung up as well.

Javious and Amber ran. They could barely see through the smoke. Amber tried desperately to make her ball of lightning brighter, brighter, but it was merely impossible to see. Javious felt chills run up his spine when he heard the employees let out desperate cries. "Help, help!" one of them called. "We're-" And then they let out a shriek that ascended into the castle ceiling, a sickly thump! echoing throughout the hallway.

Spheres of light and fire were going out, one by one like falling flies. Screams were stopping. Suddenly, Amber clenched her fist, her ball of lightning and mage horns disappearing, and she quickly froze, her grip on Javious' wrist tight. His eyes darted to her in confusion.

She mouthed, _Don't move._

They watched, frozen with fear as the mages' lights died out. Some were close enough for their silhouettes to shine through the dark smoke, but before they were able to cry for help, for the bold prince to assist them, something would attach to their shoulders and yank them up into the air. Their screams muffled in mere seconds. Javious gawked with wide eyes, and he felt his stomach sink. What if Jared was already… caught? What would happen if he were to be caught?

_Thud. Thud. Thud._

Javious' thoughts were silenced. Amber's bit down onto her lip. The smoke was beginning to clear, just a little. Many feet in front of them stood a familiar figure. Its fingers were curled as if they were claws. It took carefully placed steps towards them. Javious swallowed. As he and Amber attempted to back away, it suddenly hissed, causing them to stop in their tracks.

Aemilius' eyes were black and empty. The cracks on his face and neck dribbled a dark, liquidy substance, steaming into the air. His shoulders were tense. He seemed to be gazing straight through Javious and Amber's souls, low growls bubbling from his throat. He opened his mouth. Black saliva stained his teeth.

Javious swallowed again. His palms were sweaty. "A… Aemilius," he breathed. "It's m-me. Javious." He put a shaky hand up to show that he didn't want any harm done. "Do… Do not hurt us."

Amber struggled to keep her expression steady and stiff. She took a deep breath. "I do not think he can hear you, Javious," she whispered.

In response, Aemilius snarled, gnashing his dirty teeth. He opened his mouth wider.

Then a long, giant, black tongue curled over his lower lip, the dark, steaming saliva dripping from it. He walked closer to the two of them. Was he… smelling them? Javious' eyes widened in fear, and he flinched, clenching his mouth. The smell of aluminum filled the air. He didn't open his eyes again until he heard the gross sound of Aemilius' tongue sinking back into his mouth.

"A-Aemilius," Javious tried once more. "Please. You recognize me, don't you? I know you're down there somewhere. Y-You wouldn't-"

**"A̶e̵m̴i̵l̷i̵u̷s̴ ̴i̴s̸ ̸n̸o̸t̶ ̷i̵n̵ ̶c̶o̸n̴t̸r̵o̸l̵,̵"** was the reply.

Shivers traveled down Javious and Amber's spines. There was never a voice that they've heard before that was so… demented like this one. It was as if Aemilius' original harsh, bold-sounding voice had been torn to shreds, like his throat were made of wires and cables. It was replaced with the threatening possession of YUL.

"Who are you?" Amber spoke, forcing her tone to sound authoritative.

It was almost nothing compared to the brutal, scratchy sound of Aemilius' words. **"Y̵U̶L̴,"** he replied. **"I̵ ̵a̸m̴ ̵a̸n̴c̶i̶e̴n̵t̶.̴ ̴A̴n̵ ̴e̴n̵t̶i̶t̴y̸ ̸t̶h̶a̴t̴ ̴h̵a̶s̸ ̷b̷e̴e̴n̴ ̷a̴l̷i̸v̸e̷ ̶f̸o̸r̶ ̸t̵h̶o̵u̴s̴a̴n̸d̷s̸ ̶o̴f̸ ̴y̵e̷a̶r̵s̸.̸ ̸."** He took another step closer. **"I̵ ̷h̵a̷v̴e̵ ̴s̶h̶o̴w̸n̵ ̴m̶u̶c̷h̶ ̶i̷n̸t̶e̷r̷e̷s̴t̵ ̴i̷n̸ ̴y̴o̸u̸ ̶h̸u̸m̴a̵n̴s̴.̴ ̷E̴s̶p̴e̵c̷i̸a̵l̶l̵y̵ ̷y̶o̶u̴,̵ ̶A̸m̸b̴e̴r̷ ̶L̷a̴p̴o̶i̵s̶e̶.̸ ̴P̸r̷i̵n̴c̶e̶ ̵J̴a̷v̷i̶o̷u̴s̶ ̵O̶r̸a̵n̸,̸ ̶y̸o̸u̵ ̴w̵i̵l̵l̵ ̸a̴l̵s̶o̸ ̶m̴a̷k̵e̷ ̶a̴n̴ ̶i̷n̷t̷e̶r̷e̶s̵t̵i̷n̴g̵ ̴a̸d̴d̸i̵t̶i̸o̸n̴ ̸t̵o̷ ̴m̴y̷ ̸c̵o̵l̵l̸e̸c̵t̵i̷o̶n̶.̴"**

"What have you done?" Amber asked once more. Her hand clenched into a fist. "What have you done to these innocent people?"

As if to answer, the clouds of smoke around them cleared. Aemilius tilted his head as he watched the prince and his royal advisor raise their eyes to the ceiling. Javious felt all the blood drain from his face as a sick, nauseous pang hit his stomach. Amber gasped. She brought a hand up to her mouth. On the ceiling were black, gooey sacs, almost resembling egg sacs of a spider. Each sac bulged and pulsed. The people inside it were trying to get out.

"You…" Amber's eyes slowly turned to the possessed man. Her face knitted into a mixture of horror and anger. "You monster." Her voice wavered. "Why? Why did you do this?"

"A-Amber, please-" Javious tried to tell her.

**"I̵ ̸c̵a̸n̵ ̶a̸n̷s̴w̶e̸r̴ ̴h̷e̴r̸ ̷q̷u̴e̸s̴t̴i̵o̷n̷,"** Aemilius said. **"I̵ ̶a̵m̴ ̷v̴e̷r̶y̵ ̷p̸o̷w̵e̵r̷f̶u̸l̵.̸ ̸I̵ ̷u̴s̸e̵ ̶m̸y̸ ̶t̵i̶m̸e̸ ̷w̷i̸s̴e̴l̷y̴.̵ ̸I̶ ̶a̴m̴ ̸a̷l̵s̶o̶ ̷v̶e̶r̶y̴ ̸c̶u̶r̵i̵o̷u̶s̸ ̶a̸n̷d̶ ̶I̵ ̸a̵m̸ ̶n̴o̴t̵ ̵a̷f̵r̴a̷i̷d̵ ̴t̶o̶ ̶e̶x̵p̴r̵e̵s̵s̷ ̵i̴t̴.̶̷"** He gestured with his head to the sacs on the ceiling. **"H̶u̷m̸a̴n̶s̵ ̵i̴n̶t̶e̷r̷e̶s̸t̴ ̶m̷e̴.̶ ̸M̴a̶g̶e̶s̴,̴ ̸m̶o̵s̶t̵l̸y̶.̴ ̵E̷x̴p̷e̴r̴i̴m̴e̸n̸t̷i̷n̷g̷ ̷w̴i̵t̵h̵ ̴t̴h̸e̷m̸ ̴f̶u̷l̶f̵i̴l̷l̵s̸ ̶m̴y̷ ̸d̴r̵i̴v̵e̵ ̸f̸o̶r̷ ̸k̴n̶o̷w̵l̴e̴d̴g̷e̴.̷ C̷h̶a̶n̷g̶e̸ ̴i̸s̴ ̵w̴h̵a̸t̴ ̶h̶u̸m̶a̶n̷s f̴e̷a̷r̷, ̴a̷n̷d̸ ̸c̶h̸a̴n̷g̶e̸ ̷i̵s̵ ̸w̷h̸a̴t̵ ̵I̸ ̷d̴o̵.̶**

His hollow eyes flickered.** "C̸h̷a̴n̵g̶e̸ ̶i̴s̶ ̷w̶h̵a̴t̶ ̶m̷a̵k̶e̴s̵ ̵n̸e̴w̶ ̴p̸a̶t̴h̷w̶a̴y̴s̶,̶ ̴n̷e̷w̵ ̶l̸i̵n̵k̷s̴.̴ ̵C̴h̷a̸n̵g̸e̸ ̵i̸s̴ ̸m̴e̶,̷ ̶y̸o̵u̸,̴ ̸e̴v̵e̶r̷y̸o̶n̷e̷.̴ ̴C̶h̷a̴n̸g̴e̸ ̵i̷s̸ ̶c̴h̸a̴n̸g̴e̵.̴ ̷C̸h̸a̵n̵g̴e̷ ̵c̷a̸n̸n̵o̴t̸ ̸b̸e̸ ̸s̷t̶o̵p̵p̵e̸d̶,̷ ̸b̴u̸t̶ ̷i̴t̸ ̵c̴a̶n̷ ̴b̶e̸ ̵c̷o̵n̸t̶r̷o̵l̸l̵e̵d̷.̵ U̶s̴e̴d̸ ̵t̴o̸ ̶a̵n̷ ̶a̵d̸v̸a̷n̷t̶a̶g̶e̴.̵"**

Poetic, Javious thought, but frightening. A part of him wanted to find out what Aemilius - or YUL - meant by "change", but the other half yelled at him to stop thinking of the horrific possibilities.

As if reading his mind, Amber whispered, "What do you do?"

**"O̸n̵l̷y̷ ̶w̷h̴a̵t̷ ̷I̶ ̷n̷e̸e̷d̸ ̶t̶o̴ ̵d̸o̴.̴"**

"Do you hurt these people?"

**"I̴t̴ ̵a̷l̴w̸a̴y̷s̵ ̴d̷e̵p̶e̵n̷d̶s̶.̸"**

Amber's mage horns appeared on her head once more. She clenched her fist. Electricity flickered within it, burning a bright orange. Aemilius didn't flinch. In fact, he ignored her threatening gesture.

"You must let everyone go," she warned, "or we will do it for you. I will not allow the treatment of innocent lives to be left in your hands. I have not heard of you or your presence before, YUL, but if you will not think twice about what you are doing, then you will be stopped."

A pang of anticipation struck Javious' chest. It was dead silent. Amber set her expression straight, her fist still clenched and her eyes unblinking. Aemilius was still.

Then he dipped his head, shoulders rising up and down as if he were sighing. **"V̸e̸r̸y̸ ̶w̵e̷l̶l̷,"** he hummed.** "Y̷o̵u̶ ̵h̸a̸v̶e̷ ̷m̶a̵d̴e̵ ̵y̵o̴u̶r̸ ̸c̴h̷o̵i̶c̷e̸.̷"**

What followed next startling, disturbing, and bloodcurdling. As if the true Aemilius was peeking out of the cracks of his possession, he suddenly curled over, letting out a pained groan. Then he fell onto all fours, raising his head and letting out a long, freakish scream that echoed through the castle walls and pierced into Javious and Amber's eardrums. Their eyes widening, the cracks on Aemilius' face and neck deepened. Black liquid seeped out of them. Crrck, crack, crllk. From his back suddenly tore six, giant bug-like limbs, resembling those of a scorpion. They stabbed into the floor.

Panting heavily, the possessed Dr. Dremash shakily stood up with a renewed aggression in his pitch black eyes. He opened his mouth and let out a screech, his grotesque tongue stretching out once more.

Amber flung a bolt of lightning to his face. It shocked him, _bzzzz_, and he stumbled back to the ground. Aemilius defensively twitched his scorpion limbs. Amber flung another bolt of lighting at him again, but before he could get hit, he suddenly opened his mouth wide. With a sickly _sqrrrsh_, a gooey stream of a sticky black substance shot out from his throat and splattered onto Amber's arm. She let out a shriek; it was burning hot. Before Javious could react, Aemilius' body suddenly quivered as white arcs of electricity shot out from it and sent the prince tumbling against the wall with a thud.

Javious' ears rung, head aching. With sore arms he pushed himself up, looking through blurry eyes to see the blurry silhouettes, orange and black. Amber was desperately trying to wave the black steaming goo from her arm. She launched another bolt of orange lightning at Aemilius. Aemilius shook once more, groaning as his body flared with the bright power. Amber then shocked him again, successfully throwing the black liquid off of her arm. Javious watched as she kept him down on the ground. Aemilius let out a metallic shriek.

"C… Come on, Amber!" Javious cried, shaking as he pushed himself up. "You can do it!"

Amber gritted her teeth. There was steam coming from where the black liquid was on her arm. Aemilius was on all fours, head down as his scorpion limbs writhed from the orange magic.

Then he rose his head up and gave her a nasty, sharp glare. The cracks on his face and neck split open. Dark goo pooled from them as he slowly forced himself onto his legs. Amber stared in disbelief. She let out a yell and brought her other hand. Lightning struck out from her fingers. But Aemilius, though wobbling, continued to fight it. He was advancing towards her.

The hope Javious once had was now fading, dying, rotting. Amber stopped her magic and ran. Javious pushed himself to his feet, shaky hand out for her to grab. His back burned and his neck was sore. But before Amber could reach him, Aemilius disappeared in a cloud of smoke and reappeared in a dark burst in front of them.

He kicked Amber back and vomited the sticky black liquid onto her again, directly onto her face. She let out a muffled scream, kicking and swiping blindly and shooting out more bolts of lightning. Metal, metal, metal, she was desperately trying to feel for metal. But too many things were happening at once and she could barely even focus.

"GOOOO," she was roaring. "LEEEAAAAVE."

Aemilius picked her up with his scorpion limbs and suddenly turned towards Javious.

Regret itched deep into his gut, the prince ran. Turning a sharp left and groaning as pain racked throughout his body, sharp jolts of pain running through his spine and shoulders. He stumbled. He was dizzy. He looked back and saw just in time that Aemilius was now crawling up the wall - with metal claws piercing from his fingers.

All of this was too overwhelming. Much too overwhelming. Javious panted as he struggled to run, leaning against the wall as he entered the west wing hallway. Too dark. Where was he? His legs shook and ached. Aemilius' shrieks and growls echoed in his ears. What was happening? How could he let everybody get caught like that? Were they going to get hurt? How could Amber, one of the most powerful mages he knew, lose? It was his fault. It was his responsibility.

The dazed prince stumbled, nearly falling again. His shaking hands felt the wall. Door, door, room, room. Doorknob. Doorknob! Whose room was this? Javious was sweating, quivering in his red, princely uniform. There was a plaque right in front of his face. What did it say? It was impossible to read it in the dark and when his eyes were blurry. Damnit. Javious shook the knob swung the door open, falling to the ground.

It was when he felt a chill rush up his spine. He groaned, raising his head up, seeing two cloudy figures. One tall, one shorter.

"Your highness!" the tall one exclaimed, his voice silky and accented. Javious recognized it as the voice of the royal advisor's husband, Nevel Barentsz. He knelt down, helping the prince up with bony hands. Despite his frantic icy eyes, it seemed that his old grey hair was still well-kept. "What is going on out there?!" he said, shutting the door and locking it.

"B… Be quiet," Javious moaned. "M-Monster… outside…" It was all he could really say.

The other figure was Pim Lapoise, pale with black hair and a white dress. She observed him worriedly, lifting one of his arms up to support him. "What do you mean by 'monster', your highness?"

"Agh, don't ask him any questions, girl, he's very obviously hurt," Nevel hissed back at her. "Now help me put him down somewhere."

Javious let himself be heaved onto a soft couch. His eyes spun as Pim gently tucked a pillow behind his head, and he groaned in pain. Every movement of his body made his muscles ache. It was as if his spine was shriveling into tiny pieces. His eyelids were heavy. He could barely even open them.

"Your highness Javious," Nevel quickly said, standing over him with a syrupy, tooth-achingly dedicated tone. He cupped his bony hands together. "I am very concerned for you. I do not think you are capable of talking very much, but I have many questions. Many. You see, my wife, daughter and I were about to go to sleep, the lights went out, and Amber couldn't turn anything back on. So she offered to go and investigate."

Pim mumbled underneath her breath, words that Javious could barely make out. "Forced", and "Didn't want", were all he could hear.

Nevel did not notice. "She told us to stay in here, and when we heard all of that havoc, I was ready to protect Pim. What was happening out there? You are very obviously hurt, but-"

"Can't…. e-e-explain…" Javious breathed. Impossible he wanted to say.

"Would you like me to go investigate?" Nevel then asked.

Javious weakly shook his head.

"Your highness," Pim began quietly, "is my mother alright?"

Javious' jaw clenched. Then he shook his head again. "Caught," he choked out.

"Caught?" Pim's eyes widened. "By the 'monster'?"

"Of course the 'monster'," Nevel grumbled. "Who else would want to take her?"

Javious could barely hang onto the words they were saying. Their expressions were blurry and almost unreadable. Where was Aemilius? A hot pang struck in his chest. His stomach churned. He was sweaty all over and he was angry, afraid, and anxious. Angry at himself for not saving everyone. Afraid of the other people he could lose. Anxious for Aemilius and what was happening to him and the employees.

"A… Aemilius," Javious croaked.

Nevel's brow furrowed, nose scrunching a bit. "Oh. _Him_. What has that _scientist_ done this time?

"Odd things have been happening over these weeks," Pim muttered. "Prince Javious, are you saying that Aemilius has to do with the monster?"

"Have to… l-leave," he whispered. "Can't stay…"

Pim pursed her lips. "Okay. We have to leave. We can go out the window-"

"You do not get to decide what happens and where we go," Nevel snapped at her. "You wouldn't be able to create such a strategic plan, anyway."

"If the prince tells us something, we do it, Father." She gnashed her teeth. "It would be unwise to not follow him."

"Then where would we go?" he growled. "What can the people outside do? Most of them are already asleep. All the mages out there would be unprepared to fight this mo-"

_Knock, knock, knock._ Javious' heart leapt into his throat. Pim and Nevel's eyes darted to the door. _Knock, knock, knock!_

"Don't… open," Javious breathed weakly.

A voice rang from outside. "Well, open up _quickly_! You're as slow as a _mule_! Open up before that _thing_ comes over here!" The doorknob shook. Javious' eyes then widened. It was Aemilius. The real Aemilius.

Nevel scoffed. "Do we really have to let that nosy cat in?"

Pim clenched her fists. She slowly walked towards the door. "Who are you?" she called.

An exasperated sigh. "Do you really need to know? It's obviously me! Aemilius Dremash!"

Pim narrowed her eyes. She gave a glance at Javious. He simply let out another quiet groan of pain, mumbling, "A… Aemilius…"

"Let me handle this, Pim," Nevel growled, pushing past her forcefully and standing in front of the door. "Now, Dr. Dremash, how do we know that this is really-"

On the other side, Aemilius pounded his fist on the door aggressively, shouting, "Let me in! Now! It's right around the corner, damnit!"

Javious' ears rung as he heard the faint sounds of a metallic screech behind the door, Aemilius continuing to scream and knock. "Open the goddamn door!" he roared.

"Father, open the door!" Pim exclaimed.

"I-" Nevel let out a frustrated growl, snatched the doorknob, and swung the door open.

Aemilius stumbled through, and Nevel quickly shut the door once more.

"That took you long enough!" Aemilius hissed, brushing dust off of his coat and glaring at the people in the room, especially at Nevel. "What the hell were you thinking, letting me stand out there?"

"Perhaps you could zip your snotty mouth shut, Aemilius," Nevel grumbled. "There was a monster outside and it clearly could've been you!"

Aemilius sputtered. "Me?! What do you mean? Feed me your great wisdom, Mr. Barentsz, I am so sure that you know everything!"

"Dremash, watch your tongue-"

"Stop!" Pim exclaimed, causing the two men to dart their glares towards her. "Javious is hurt and we have to get him somewhere. We do not know if he has a life-threatening injury or not."

"Define him with his royal title, girl," Nevel snarled. "And he is simply dizzy, I'm sure. Nothing else. We will not leave this room until we get everything figured out."

"Putting his life in danger would be foolish," Pim mumbled, in which her father's glare at her sharpened.

"You dare to insult your own parent as such?" he hissed.

Javious weakly rose a shaky hand. "Thrown… wall…" he breathed. He turned the shaky hand to Aemilius. "You…"

Aemilius furrowed his brow. "What do you mean, your highness?" He sounded oddly calm all of a sudden.

"I think he means… that you are the one who threw him against a wall, and that caused him to get hurt."

"What? I would never!"

"He told us that you are associated with the monster outside," Pim continued. Aemilius' expression shifted from surprise to confusion. "How so?"

"I do not know what 'monster' you are talking about," the alchemist scoffed.

"Y… YU…" Javious squeezed his eyes shut. He opened them again tiredly. "YUL…"

"That thing?" Aemilius said. "It's gone. I don't know why you'd refer to such a being as a 'monster'. The proper term is an 'entity'. A very ancient entity that is very wise."

Pim and Nevel observed him questionably. He stared back blankly.

"What?" he said.

"How are you associated with this… entity?" Nevel asked skeptically.

"It came to me and it possessed me for a while and now it's gone."

"Where did it go, then?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

Nevel's eyes narrowed. He took a step forward. Aemilius did not move an inch, only meeting the man's harsh gaze. Nevel crossed his arms.

"How are we supposed to know that you aren't YUL?"

"And how are you supposed to know things about it?"

"With the events that have been happening in Chiel, I cannot take the time to believe that you are truly, one hundred percent Aemilius Dremash. These weird 'entities' are unpredictable, and if one of them can disguise themselves as human, then I will make sure that I know that."

Aemilius stared straight at Nevel without even the blink of an eye. For a moment, it seemed that he had turned into a statue. Thunder and lightning clashed outside. Then he blinked, and when he opened his eyes again, they were pitch black.

**"V̵e̷r̵y̸ ̸w̸e̴l̶l̴,"** he said.

Immediately, Nevel and Pim's mage horns appeared, but before they could use any of their magic, Aemilius inhaled deeply before exhaling. Black smoke spewed from his mouth, nose, and ears, filling the room instantly. Javious clenched his teeth weakly as his blurred vision darkened with the fog, and he heard Nevel and Pim's yelps ring through his ears. A crackling thud, one of the stone tables flinging across the room and hitting the wall, barely able to be seen. Then many shots of ice cutting through the air. Aemilius was shrieking, screeching, and in the clouds, Javious could barely see those pairs of scorpion limbs.

The prince groaned. He had to get out. He weakly dragged himself off from the couch, flopping onto the floor. His head spun. He felt like he was going to vomit. But he pushed further. He crawled nimbly as the clouds of smoke were beginning to fade. He crawled against the wall. Aemilius had spewed a black gooey substance onto Pim's legs, and she was desperately trying to freeze the burning hot liquid with her ice magic. Aemilius himself still had those deep cracks in his neck and face. They were getting deeper. He pinned Nevel against the wall. Nevel kicked and growled to no avail.

None of them noticed as Javious dizzily crawled out the door. Guilt panged in his chest. He knew he shouldn't be leaving Nevel and Pim to defend themselves. He was letting even more lives be at risk. But if anything, he'd have to save his own life first. He would rather run outside to get help than let himself be killed when YUL couldn't be stopped and could interrupt the current peace in Chiel.

He closed the door behind him. He groaned, wobbling as he pushed himself up and stumbling against the wall. A sharp pain shot up his back. He weakly hissed. But he kept on going, feet tripping over each other, ears ringing and head spinning like a hurricane.

One step at a time, he told himself. Keep calm. He attempted to take deep breaths, but he choked. His heart was beating so fast he couldn't even tell each individual beat apart. He wobbled against the wall, coming out of the west wing hallway and back into the main castle hall.

He heard Aemilius screech. He heard Nevel yell. Was it in anger, or was it in pain? Javious squeezed his eyes shut, opened them again. He was making it. The castle hall was big, but he was making it. Step by step.

Javious refused to look up at the sacs of living people above him. It would make him feel even more sick than he already did. He knew that Amber had become a new victim. She didn't even have the time to use all of her magic. Not even her negation ability. Javious clenched his teeth. He had to keep on moving.

Halfway. Just a little bit more, and he'd be three quarters done. It was raining tremendously outside. Thunder was booming and roaring, almost blocking out the screams that continued to echo loudly from the west wing hallway. Then suddenly, they came to a stop, and Javious felt his heart catch in his chest.

Footsteps. Thudding behind him. Javious quickened his pace, feet continuing to shake and wobble. It grew louder. Javious stopped himself from looking back. He already knew that Aemilius was already running after him.

Javious decided, Damn it all, damn it all, and he pushed himself off from the wall and struggled to sprint. He fell to the ground. Aemilius was shrieking behind him. Get up, get up! Javious scrambled back to his feet and ran. He could barely see anything. But he was making faster progress. The doors were right there, there, there there there-

He tripped, skidded to the side, and just as Aemilius was about to make his landing, he bursted through the castle doors and missed his target, right into the pouring rain.

The reaction was almost immediate. The possessed Dr. Dremash writhed, hands pressed against his cracked face. He was shivering as the rain droplets pooled onto him. His scorpion limbs twitched and curled, and then they disappeared into smoke. He struggled to keep himself up as he fell onto all fours. White electricity jittered through his body aggressively. Then the cracks disappeared, leaving only thin red cuts as if they were scars. Aemilius' eyes became normal again, and his eyes rolled into the back of his head.

He fell over, fainting.

It seemed that the guards on the outside had been captured too, and since Chiel was at its nighttime hour, nobody was around to see it. The guards were gone. It continued to thunder and crackle, only the roars of the sky echoing throughout the city.

Then a hand. Javious was weakly dragging himself to the passed-out alchemist. He groaned, mumbling, "A… Aemilius…" He was pushing. Pushing himself until he finally reached Dr. Dremash.

His hand extended, just slightly, gently touching one of the fresh red scars on Aemilius' face. When he pulled his finger away, there was blood.

Javious' vision wavered, and he fainted as well.


End file.
